Ford Hits Pause on Car Production as Americans Scoop up Trucks

The Fusion, Focus, Fiesta, and even the Transit are taking a break from production after Ford instructs plants to idle.

For quite some time now, we’ve watched as Ford trucks and SUVs continue to dominate the sales charts month after month. This dynamic shift in consumer preference toward profitable vehicles has been mostly good for automakers, of course. But there is one unfortunate victim suffering from this trend — the sedan. Now the automaker is proactively pausing production to stabilize inventory at hand.

According to the Blue Oval, the idle will last for up to ten weeks and will include the Transit, Focus, Fusion, and Fiesta. The move comes after car sales dipped 18% so far this year, a trend not exclusive to the Dearborn-based company. Temporarily cutting production will allow Ford to move excess inventory and free up space for trucks and SUVs. Plus, it reduces the need for profit-slashing incentives.

Some might regard this news as a negative indicator. In reality, it’s a smart and proactive move made in response to shifting consumer preferences. After all, Ford sold a whopping 77,007 F-Series pickups in August alone, which represents a 15% increase over last year. With the 2018 F-150 hitting dealerships as you read this, that figure will likely spike in September, especially as truckloads of inventory are headed south to overcome the impact recent hurricanes had on dealership inventories.

This year, F-Series sales have increased 9.2% while car sales have dipped 20.4%. That’s a sharp contrast, and it’s one that automakers see as an enduring trend. While sedans won’t completely disappear from the face of the earth, they will surely see a slow demise.